Keeping time at the Ridge

We had an interesting question come our way the other day: Do you have any unique or interesting timepieces at Stevenson Ridge?

In fact, we do!

Our favorite timepiece is a clock that has been passed down through our family to my mother, Debbie. It’s an old electric clock manufactured by the Revere Clock Co. of Cincinnati, Ohio, which my great-grandfather, Olaf Peterson, purchased as an anniversary present for my great-grandmother, Margarete.

“Revere chimes are Telechron motored insuring absolutely accurate time always without the irksome winding each week,” says a little sales card still tucked inside the back of the clock. “Chimes are beautifully resonant, of true pitch and notes of the famous Westminster Abbey.”

The card outlines many of the clock’s other features, including the “rare woods” used to make the casings and the durability of the clock that means it “need not sit level and can be moved around for dusting, etc.”

“Revere clocks are made in a factory that specializes on chime clocks alone and are made of the finest materials and by skilled mechanics and should not be confused with the unreliable clocks that have been put on the market the last few years,” the card concludes. “Revere chime clocks are as serviceable as they are beautiful and a friend and companion through the years to come.”

Olaf bought the clock for $64.80 from Harry O. Einsohn’s store in Huntington, N.Y. The sales slip, also tucked in the back, lists a purchase date of Dec. 7, 1950. “This clock is guaranteed to give perfect satisfaction,” the salesperson wrote on the slip.

Olaf’s anniversary present now sits on a fireplace mantel in The Civil War House, one of our historic homes original to the property. The clock has been a “friend and companion,” indeed—to four generations of our family.